CO_2激光扁桃体切除术的临床研究

目的:探讨CO2激光切除扁桃体的临床疗效。方法:随机将102例患者分为CO2激光组和对照组。CO2激光组用CO2激光系统切除扁桃体;对照组则采用常规剥离法切除扁桃体,手术均由同一术者完成。观察并记录两侧扁桃体切除所需手术时间、术中出血量、术后疼痛时间及程度、术后创面反应程度、创面修复时间(假膜出现及脱落时间)、术后再出血、术后术区瘢痕共7项指标。结果:CO2激光组手术时间较对照组短;CO2激光组术中平均出血量(7.2±2.1)ml,而对照组为(92.0±35.0)ml;CO2激光组术后疼痛及创面反应程度均轻于对照组;CO2激光组较对照组假膜出现时间早、脱落晚;两组均无术后再出血患者;术后12周动态观察CO2激光组与对照组术区瘢痕情况,仅对照组有2例(3.92%)出现明显术区瘢痕。结论:CO2激光扁桃体切除术出血量少,术后疼痛小,反应轻,手术方法易掌握,是扁桃体切除术中一种安全、有效、微创的术式。     

微波在扁桃体切除术中止血的应用

2001年3月至2003年3月我们在133例扁桃体切除术后应用微波治疗仪止血,男68例,女65例,4～40岁,病程1～20年,局麻108例,全麻25例.以1998年7月至2002年10月148例扁桃体切除术后用常规方法止血为对照组,男77例,女71例,3～45岁,病程6个月～32年,局麻111例,全麻37例.两组术前均常规检查血常规、肝肾功能及血凝常规,均无肝肾及血液系统疾病.常规手术组于切除扁桃体后,用纱球压迫扁桃体窝10～15min,观察有无出血点,如有出血点缝扎扁桃体窝.微波组切除扁桃体后,用纱球压迫5min,观察有出血点后,用微波探头,于出血点处凝固2～4s,见局部发白,无出血后停止,再观察10min无再出血手术结束.术后2组患者均应用抗生素3～5d.术中单侧出血量微波组为23±11ml,常规组为25±10ml;术中单侧止血时间微波组为3±2min,常规组为10±6min(P<0.05);术后再出血率微波组为0.75%,常规组为3.5%(P<0.05),术后白膜形成时间2组均为1～3d.     

合并轻度出血性疾病的扁桃体和(或)腺样体切除术患儿围手术期管理

目的 探讨合并轻度出血性疾病并接受扁桃体和(或)腺样体手术的患者围手术期处理方案,提高围手术期安全。方法 回顾分析6例合并诊断为轻度出血性疾病并行扁桃体和(或)腺样体手术患者资料。收集患者的基本信息、出血风险评估、手术方案、围术期控制出血策略等,结合文献复习分析此类患者的诊疗要点。结果 6例患者凝血情况：血友病A FVIII:C 4.8%, APTT 57.7s;血友病B:FIX:C 4.2%, APTT 59.3s;血友病B FIX:C 5.9%, APTT 57.2s; FIX:C 64.3%, APTT 52.3s; FVII:C 73.3%; FX:C 66.2%; FIX:C 58.4%; APTT 44s; APTT 35s; PLT 102×10⁹/L。3例血友病患者给予凝血因子替代治疗+抗纤溶治疗,2例凝血功能障碍患者给予新鲜冰冻血浆治疗,免疫性血小板减少患者治疗无特殊。在血液科、麻醉科、供血科配合下6例患者顺利完成腺样体扁桃体手术,手术的平均手术时间&平均出血量(血友病63.3 min&16.7 mL,凝血功能障碍47.5 min...     

多点电凝消融治疗扁桃体肥大为主所致儿童鼾症的体会

目的观察多点电凝消融法治疗扁桃体肥大为主所致儿童鼾症的疗效。方法44例扁桃体肥大为主所致鼾症患儿,21例接受扁桃体多点电凝消融手术治疗(A组),另23例实施传统扁桃体剥离术做为对照(B组)。所有患儿术后均随访1年以上,比较分析2组的疗效及术式优缺点。结果 A组显效76%,有效24%,未见扁桃体残留;手术时间(15±2)分钟;出血量(3.0±0.5)ml。B组显效87%,有效13%;手术时间(28±2)分钟;出血量(35±4)ml。两组比较差异有明显统计学意义(P0.01)。术后创面白膜脱落时间两组无明显差异(P0.05),术后疼痛等不适反应B组明显重于A组(P0.01),且B组并发术后出血可能较大。结论多点电凝消融治疗扁桃体肥大具有操作简便、手术时间短、出血少、术后不适反应轻,疗效显著等优点,并能保留扁桃体免疫功能,值得临床推广应用。     

单极电刀电凝模式切除儿童扁桃体的临床研究

目的通过与传统剥离法扁桃体切除术比较,探讨单极电刀电凝模式(以下称凝切法)切除儿童扁桃体的临床意义。方法对30例需行双侧扁桃体切除术的儿童患者,采用同体异侧对比的方法,按照随机方案一侧扁桃体采用凝切法切除、另一侧采用剥离法切除;分别记录双侧扁桃体的切除时间、止血时间、总手术时间、术中出血量,并观察术中创面损伤、术后白膜生长、咽痛反应等,并对两组数据进行统计分析。结果凝切法与剥离法的切除时间分别为(6.5±2.6)min和(5.6±2.7)min,两种手术方法切除扁桃体的时间差异无统计学意义(P=0.14)。凝切法的止血时间、总手术时间、术中出血量分别为(2.5±2.8)min、(9.0±4.3)min、(6.0±6.8)ml,剥离法的分别为(7.7±3.9)min、(13.2±5.6)min、(18.9±8.8)ml,两种方法在止血时间、总手术时间、术中出血量方面的差异均有统计学意义(P=0.00),凝切法治疗儿童扁桃体肥大疗效明显优于剥离法。凝切法侧的肌纤维损伤积分优于剥离法,其差异具有统计学意义(Z=-4.916,P=0.00)。术后两组白膜生长情况和咽痛比较无明显差异。结论与传统的扁桃体剥离法相比,凝切法的术野清晰、手术时间短、术中出血量少、手术对组织的损伤轻。单极电刀电凝模式儿童扁桃体切除术安全、高效,值得临床推广使用。     

扁桃体术后大出血25例报告

扁桃体手术术后出血是常见的严重并发症,我科从1994～2003年间共行扁桃体摘除术840例,其中25例扁桃体术后大出血,约占该手术病例的3%。全部病例均经非手术方法止血,无1例死亡,效果令人满意,现报道如下。1资料与方法1.1临床资料25例扁桃体术后出血病人中,男18例,女7例;年龄8～45岁,平均18岁,出血量100～600ml。所有病人术前血常规及凝血时间检查结果正常,均在局麻下完成手术。出血时间:术后3～6h出血20例,术后1～3d出血3例,术后6～7d出血2例。伴随症状:全部病例大出血前后均有呕吐,其胃内容物内有较多暗红色凝血块。1.2止血方法首先用冰棒或…     

冷、热止血法与扁桃体切除术后疼痛关系的比较研究

目的观察电凝器喷凝止血法（热止血法）和压迫缝扎止血法（冷止血法）与扁桃体切除术后疼痛的相关性。方法行扁桃体摘除术的慢性扁桃体炎患者100例，分为2组，术中分别采用冷止血法和热止血法进行创面止血。分别记录术中出血量，术后每天观察进食情况以记录正常进食时间；采用McGill疼痛量表法，于术后第3天进行疼痛评分并作组问比较分析。结果热止血法组病例的术中平均出血量及术后进食时间分别为10．26±0．69ml和H2．52±0．42d，而冷止血法组病例则分别为12．52±0．45ml及2．12±0．63d（P〈0．05）；比较术后疼痛持续时间，热止血法组病例有3个指标明显大于冷止血法组，仅1个指标明显短于后者（均P〈0．05），其余指标组间差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论热止血法手术操作较安全，术中出血量较少，但术后疼痛较明显。因而，应根据患者术中的具体情况灵活选择止血方法。     

血小板减少者扁桃体切除1例

刘聿明患者男，70岁。因反复咽痛伴咽异物感2月入院，查体见双侧咽前弓局限充血，双侧扁桃体Ⅰ度大，左侧扁桃体上极有约1cm×1cm大的肿物，呈暗紫色，质韧，不易出血，表面尚光滑。有血小板减少史1年。血象：BT2min，CT3min，WBC2.65×109／L，PC74×1109/L。凝血系列检查：PTl5s，对照12s，比值1.25，PA 62％；TT20s，对照17s；AFTT 33.5s，对照31s。虑及术中、术后有出血倾向，前ld输同型(AB)新鲜全血400ml,在局麻下剥离切除左侧扁桃体及肿物，手术顺利，创面渗血稍多，术后10h唾液内已无血丝，24h后前后弓黏膜水肿显著，白膜生长不全，色稍暗，术后5d水肿逐渐消退。静脉应用抗生素治疗10d，出院时进软食，张口活动正常。病理报告示扁桃体慢性炎症并囊肿形成。 　　讨论患者系血小板减少，并白细胞计数减少，凝血系列检查异常，有出血倾向，术前1d输同型新鲜全血，增强了患者的凝血能力及抗感染能力，有助于减少术中、术后出血及促进术后创面愈合。     

口疮散对扁桃体切除术后创面的止痛止血干预效果研究

目的 探讨口疮散对扁桃体切除术后创面的止痛止血效果.方法 43例全麻下行扁桃体剥离术患者,术后第1天起予以口疮散喷洒于右侧术腔创面上,每天4次,连续应用3天;左侧不作任何处理.对比两侧创面出血、疼痛、假膜发生情况、局部炎症反应四个方面指标.结果 同体二侧对照表明创面出血（x^2=5.11,P＜0.05）、疼痛（x^2=9.26,P＜0.01）、假膜发生情况（x^2=6.36,P＜0.05）、局部炎症反应（x^2=6.91,P＜0.05）差异均有统计学意义.结论 口疮散对扁桃体切除术后的止痛、止血有促进作用.     

蒙脱石散剂对扁桃体摘除术后的止血止痛作用观察

扁桃体摘除术后 ,由于手术创面暴露 ,受口腔内各种因素刺激 ,总是存在着不同程度的出血和疼痛。蒙脱石散剂 (商品名 :思密达 )是一种消化道粘膜保护剂 ,具有止痛、止血、促进粘膜创面愈合等作用 ,并且应用方便〔1〕。新近 ,我们在扁桃体摘除术后 ,将蒙脱石散剂溶解液给患者含漱 ,观察其对手术创面的止血、止痛效果。报告如下。1　材料与方法扁桃体摘除术患者 63例 ,男 36例 ,女 2 7例 ;年龄 1 4～ 45岁 ,平均 2 3岁。随机分成两组 :蒙脱石散剂组 :38例 ,术后给思密达 (博福 益普生制药有限公司 )溶液含漱 ,3次 /ｄ ;对照组 :2 5例 ,同法给生…     

Post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage: a retrospective comparison of abscess- and elective tonsillectomy

CONCLUSION: There is no increased risk of postoperative haemorrhage for abscess tonsillectomies in comparison to elective tonsillectomies. OBJECTIVE: There is still controversy as regards the optimal management of peritonsillar abscess. Opponents of tonsillectomy à chaud cite an increased postoperative bleeding risk. Most authors who compared the risks of postoperative haemorrhage after tonsillectomy à chaud and tonsillectomy à froid did not take into consideration criteria such as the age and gender of the patients or the experience of the surgeon. We aimed to eliminate this bias by performing a retrospective study in which a large series of abscess tonsillectomies were compared with an age- and gender-matched group of elective tonsillectomies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients had been operated on at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Duisburg-Essen between March 1994 and August 2000. There were 350 patients in the abscess tonsillectomy group (61% male, 39% female; mean age 31.8 years; range 3-88 years) and 311 in the elective tonsillectomy comparison group (61% male, 39% female; mean age 30.0 years; range 2-83 years). RESULTS: In the abscess tonsillectomy group, 9 patients (2.6%; confidence level 1.1-4.8%) had postoperative haemorrhages which required treatment under general anaesthesia, compared to 17 (5.5%; confidence level 3.2-8.6%) in the age- and gender-matched group of "selected" elective tonsillectomies. The difference between these two rates was not significant (p = 0.056). The fairly high rate of haemorrhages in the elective tonsillectomy group was mainly due to the effect of the age-matching procedure, which excluded a considerable number of usually unproblematic tonsillectomies for tonsillar hyperplasia in young children. Moreover, our results show that there is a learning curve for surgeons performing tonsillectomies with regard to postoperative haemorrhages.     

Tonsillectomy by guillotine is less painful than by dissection

Most tonsillectomies are carried out by dissection. Only a small minority of otolaryngologists still routinely perform guillotine tonsillectomy. We carried out a prospective study on 86 children undergoing tonsillectomy utilising a standard anaesthetic and analgesic regimen to compare post-operative pain after dissection tonsillectomy and guillotine tonsillectomy using a Popper's hemostatic guillotine. Guillotine tonsillectomy was significantly less painful (P<0.001) than dissection tonsillectomy. The relative risk of experiencing moderately severe to severe pain was 0.36 (95% CI, 0.18-0.72) in the guillotine group. A significant proportion of children experience moderately severe to severe pain despite a comprehensive analgesic regimen confirming that post operative pain remains an important issue after this operation. On the basis of our findings we advocate tonsillectomy by guillotine in children. The less pain that arises within the first 24 h may be particularly important if performing tonsillectomy as a day-case procedure.     

Comparison of microdebrider subcapsular tonsillectomy to harmonic scalpel and electrocautery total tonsillectomy

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare microdebrider subcapsular tonsillectomy (MST) with total tonsillectomies either by harmonic scalpel (TTH) or electrocautery (TTE) in children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing from tonsillar hypertrophy. DESIGN: Retrospective review of prospectively collected data. SETTING: Tertiary academic hospital. PATIENTS: Eighty consecutive children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing from tonsillar hypertrophy who underwent MST between January and April of 2003 were compared with a smaller historical cohort of 25 patients who underwent TTEs and TTHs from January to December of 2001. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary: days to no narcotic pain medicine use and days to solid food intake; secondary: estimated blood loss, surgical time, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients who underwent MSTs and 25 patients who underwent total tonsillectomies met study criteria for a total of 79 patients. The cohorts showed no significant demographic differences between groups. The MST group had a significantly shorter duration of pain medicine use (3.7 +/- 0.5 days) than the TTE (7.0 +/- 0.6 days) or TTH groups (6.8 +/- 0.7 days; P < .001). The MST group (3.5 +/- 0.6 days) and the TTH group (3.6 +/- 0.8 days) achieved solid food intake faster than the TTE group (5.4 +/- 0.7 days; P = 0.004). There was a significantly higher estimated blood loss with the MST group (38.8 +/- 6.1 mL) than the TTH group (19 mL +/- 8.2) and the TTE group (15.1 +/- 7.4 mL; P < .001). TTH (27.3 +/- 3.1 minutes) took longer than MST (20.3 +/- 2.3 minutes) and TTE (21.9 +/- 2.8 minutes; P = .018). CONCLUSION: Microdebrider subcapsular tonsillectomy is valuable in treatment of children with tonsillar hypertrophy because of the decreased pain medicine use and more rapid return to solid food.     

Postoperative bleeding after diathermy and dissection tonsillectomy

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence and pattern of bleeding after tonsillectomy performed by either cold dissection or diathermy. DESIGN: A prospective, nonrandomized cohort study of postoperative hemorrhage after tonsillectomy. METHODS: Monthly reporting of the number of tonsillectomies and postoperative bleeds from otolaryngologists working in rural areas of Victoria, Australia over a 2.5 year period. Criteria for bleeding were either 1) repeat anesthesia and surgery because of hemorrhage (including return to theater from the recovery room), or 2) readmission to hospital because of bleeding, or 3) blood transfusion to replace blood loss. Main outcome measures were the incidence, volume, and time course of postoperative hemorrhage. RESULTS: The number of bilateral tonsillectomies with removal by cold-blunt dissection was 3,087. In this group, there were 57 (1.85%) bleeds. The number of bilateral tonsillectomies with removal by diathermy dissection was 1,557. In this group, there were 37 (2.38%) bleeds. If cold dissection is taken as the "control" and diathermy tonsillectomy as the "treatment" group, the relative risk of bleeding after diathermy tonsillectomy is 1.30 (95% confidence interval 0.88-1.93). The pattern of bleeding after each technique differs significantly over time, with more reactionary bleeds in the dissection group and more bleeds between 4 to 7 postoperative days after diathermy. When bleeding occurred, it was in excess of 500 mL in 16% of dissection cases and 43% of diathermy tonsillectomies. CONCLUSIONS: The difference in the risk of bleeding after each technique did not reach statistical significance, but the temporal pattern of hemorrhage differed, and more bleeds exceeding 500 mL were seen in the diathermy group.     

Ligation versus bipolar diathermy for hemostasis in tonsillectomy: a comparative study

Tonsillectomy despite being less performed nowadays still is a very common surgery performed by ENT surgeons. The use of various modalities like bipolar diathermy, laser, cryosurgery, radiofrequency and ionic coblation for hemostasis in tonsillectomy remains controversial so far. A thorough scan of literature comparing the ligation with diathermy has been presented. In this prospective study, we analysed 50 patients undergoing tonsillectomy by dissection method. Right sided tonsillectomies act as study group (bipolar diathermy used) and left sided tonsillectomies as the control group (ligation for hemostasis used). The aim of our study is to compare the amount of blood loss, number of ligatures applied, average time taken and incidence of postoperative haemorrhage following the use of ligation and bipolar diathermy. The study found that diathermy hemostatic technique is associated with a quicker procedure, less intraoperative blood loss, comparable postoperative pain.     

Post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage: A retrospective comparison of abscess- and elective tonsillectomy

Conclusion. There is no increased risk of postoperative haemorrhage for abscess tonsillectomies in comparison to elective tonsillectomies. Objective. There is still controversy as regards the optimal management of peritonsillar abscess. Opponents of tonsillectomy à chaud cite an increased postoperative bleeding risk. Most authors who compared the risks of postoperative haemorrhage after tonsillectomy à chaud and tonsillectomy à froid did not take into consideration criteria such as the age and gender of the patients or the experience of the surgeon. We aimed to eliminate this bias by performing a retrospective study in which a large series of abscess tonsillectomies were compared with an age- and gender-matched group of elective tonsillectomies. Material and methods. All patients had been operated on at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Duisburg-Essen between March 1994 and August 2000. There were 350 patients in the abscess tonsillectomy group (61% male, 39% female; mean age 31.8 years; range 3–88 years) and 311 in the elective tonsillectomy comparison group (61% male, 39% female; mean age 30.0 years; range 2–83 years). Results. In the abscess tonsillectomy group, 9 patients (2.6%; confidence level 1.1–4.8%) had postoperative haemorrhages which required treatment under general anaesthesia, compared to 17 (5.5%; confidence level 3.2–8.6%) in the age- and gender-matched group of “selected” elective tonsillectomies. The difference between these two rates was not significant (p=0.056). The fairly high rate of haemorrhages in the elective tonsillectomy group was mainly due to the effect of the age-matching procedure, which excluded a considerable number of usually unproblematic tonsillectomies for tonsillar hyperplasia in young children. Moreover, our results show that there is a learning curve for surgeons performing tonsillectomies with regard to postoperative haemorrhages.     

Efficacy of tonsillectomy in treatment of recurrent group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether children with tonsillectomies experienced fewer recurrent group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections after surgery compared with children who did not receive tonsillectomies. STUDY DESIGN/METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of 290 children 4 to <16 years who experienced three or more episodes of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis at least 1 month apart in 12 months. RESULTS: Children without tonsillectomy were 3.1 times (95% confidence interval, 1.9-4.9; P < .001) more likely to develop a subsequent group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis infection during follow up than children who underwent tonsillectomy after adjusting for the number of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis infections per patient within the previous year and the presence of preexisting conditions. Among the children who developed a subsequent group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis infection, the children without a tonsillectomy developed a group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngeal infection sooner (median, 0.6 vs. 1.1 years). CONCLUSIONS: Tonsillectomy is associated with a decrease in the number of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis infections in children with a history of recurrent groups A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis infection. Tonsillectomy also increased the amount of time before development of further GABHS pharyngitis.     

Coblation tonsillectomy versus dissection tonsillectomy: postoperative hemorrhage

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Coblation tonsillectomy is a recently introduced surgical technique. To measure its benefits against traditional tonsillectomy techniques, it is necessary to compare their complication rates. The study aims to identify differences in reactionary and secondary hemorrhage proportions, comparing coblation with dissection tonsillectomy. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. METHODS: Rates of reactionary and delayed postoperative hemorrhage were measured, comparing 844 coblation tonsillectomies with a control group of 743 tonsillectomies performed by blunt dissection with bipolar diathermy hemostasis. RESULTS: The secondary hemorrhage rate with coblation-assisted tonsillectomy was 2.25% compared with 6.19% in the control group (P <.05). The rate of secondary hemorrhage in children following coblation tonsillectomy was 0.95% compared with 4.77% in the control group (P <.05). The difference was also significant (P <.05) in the adult population (4.40% vs. 8.81%, respectively). No difference was found in the reactionary hemorrhage proportions. CONCLUSION: In the study, coblation tonsillectomy was associated with a lesser incidence of delayed hemorrhage, more significantly in the pediatric population. The new technique using tissue coblation for tonsil dissection offers significant advantages in the postoperative period compared with dissection tonsillectomy with bipolar diathermy hemostasis. Coblation is associated with less postoperative pain and early return to daily activities. Also, there are fewer secondary infections of the tonsil bed and significantly lower rates of secondary hemorrhage with coblation. These results and the disposable nature of the coblation equipment promote coblation tonsillectomy as the authors' preferred dissection method.     

Coblation tonsillectomy: is it inherently bloody?

The aim of the study was to compare a single surgeon’s post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rates using cold steel dissection and coblation tonsillectomy techniques. Retrospective study on patients, who underwent tonsillectomy at West Wales General Hospital (WWGH) performed by a single surgeon from 2006 to 2010 employing both cold steel and coblation tonsillectomies. Data were analysed using Mann–Whitney and Chi-squared tests. The nominated surgeon performed 239 tonsillectomies at WWGH from 2006 to 2010. 119 patients underwent cold steel dissection and 120 had coblation tonsillectomy. There was no demographic difference between the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in the length of hospital stay between the two groups (median 1 day in each group). 6/119 (5.0%) patients in the cold steel group, and 7/120 (5.8%) in the coblation group had post-operative bleeding (p = 1.00). The return to theatre rate for cold steel dissection was 1/119 (0.84%) and for coblation surgery was 1/120 (0.83%) (p = 1.00). Among the first 60 cases of coblation tonsillectomies, 4 patients (6.6%) had post-operative haemorrhage and the latter 60 cases had 3 patients (5%). There was no evidence of a difference in the overall post-operative bleeding between those who had cold steel dissection and coblation tonsillectomies. These data suggest that higher post-operative haemorrhage is not inherent to coblation tonsillectomy.     

A completed audit cycle on post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rate: coblation versus standard tonsillectomy

CONCLUSION: A significant reduction in post-tonsillectomy secondary haemorrhage rate was observed after coblation tonsillectomy was abandoned in our department. OBJECTIVE: Comparison of the postoperative haemorrhage rate following coblation tonsillectomy and routine dissection tonsillectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study. In the first audit period, 441 sequential tonsillectomies between January and September 2002 were reviewed. Coblation was compared with cold steel and diathermy dissection with either ties and/or diathermy used for haemostasis. Coblation tonsillectomy was subsequently abandoned in our unit and, in the second audit period, all tonsillectomies (n=416) between July 2003 and August 2004 were included. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi2 test. RESULTS: The overall primary haemorrhage rate in the first audit cycle was 1.8% (8/441). In the second cycle with no coblation procedures, 1.4% of patients (6/416) suffered from primary haemorrhage (c.f. 8/441 (1.8%) in the first cycle, p=0.666). Secondary haemorrhage, was seen among 15.4% of patients (68/441) in the first audit cycle. In the second cycle, after coblation was discontinued, the secondary haemorrhage rate fell significantly (p<0.001) to 5.8% (24/416). A breakdown of the results of cold steel/diathermy and coblation techniques in both adults and children is also presented.